Her Mother's Daughter
by chawk1993
Summary: *One-Shot* *Set after TFA* Leia's grief at losing Ben and Han lead her into a Force vision where she comes face-to-face with a woman she has never met: her biological mother, Padmé Amidala. *SPOILER ALERT for The Force Awakens*


**A/N:** _Hi again! So, I came up with this a few days ago. It's all over the place in terms of storyline but I hope the general idea is understood. There aren't many stories out there focusing on what kind of relationship Leia and Padmé might have had. I wanted to use Leia's grief of losing Kylo Ren (Ben) and Han and comparing it to Padmé's grief of losing Anakin. Also, I wanted Leia to witness some of the events that her mother and father were involved in during the Clone Wars. I also slipped in a few references to a certain character who I know, Clone Wars and Rebels fans will be able to work out straight away. I hope you all enjoy._

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 **Her Mother's Daughter**

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For as long as she could remember, Leia had lived and breathed politics. She had been taught by her adoptive father to be poised and ready for anything and to have a sharp wit that outdid any of her opponents. She had grown up listening to her father's stories of his time in the Old Republic Senate where he had been friends with Padmé Amidala, the senator and former Queen of Naboo.

It had been no secret that she was adopted when it came to her adoptive family. She had known from a young age that her biological mother had died in childbirth. She had often pondered as to why her biological father had been kept confidential. She had read her birth file a hundred times, maybe more, by the time she was twelve years old and yet, no one would tell her complete truth.

It was a couple of days after her twelfth birthday did she discover the identity of her biological mother: Padmé Amidala, her father's close friend from his Republic Senate days.

Leia had scoured the archives for days afterwards in search of any information about Amidala that her father hadn't already told her. As far as the information went, there wasn't much at all, despite the fact that Amidala had been a clear voice in the senate. She had come to the conclusion that Amidala hadn't been liked by those who 'worshipped' Palpatine and his ideals.

The information she did have didn't add up. Her mother was a Senator of Naboo. She had once been Queen of the same planet. She had died giving birth. What happened between her last tenure as queen and the days leading up to Leia's birth? Bail had often said that the Clone Wars had been plagued with corruption and that many senators' voices, especially Amidala's had been drowned out by the Confederate of Independent Systems lead by Count Dooku and towards the end of the Clone Wars, General Grievous.

Leia didn't understand how that concerned Amidala. Bail had told her that Amidala had been an enemy of Viceroy Nute Gunray's since the Invasion of Naboo when Amidala had been queen. He had tried several times, as had many of the other Separatists, to have her assassinated.

This didn't make Leia back off on her quest and Bail knew it. He and Breha had planned to tell Leia about her parentage when she was eighteen but things had gone down hill very quickly. They knew she was inquisitive and wanted answers about her birth parents and why she was adopted. While she hadn't asked why her birth parents had given her up, they knew it was only a matter of time. They knew that she knew that Padmé was her mother but she hadn't yet pieced together her paternity. She didn't even know that she had an older twin brother who was living on their father's home planet.

" _Dad?" Leia said one day, a few days before her fifteenth birthday._

" _Yes, Leia?" Bail said looking up casually from his work._

" _I keep having this… dream." Leia said, searching for the right word._

" _Oh? What did you see in this dream?" Bail asked, fearing what she was about to tell him. He had a feeling he already knew the answer but listened anyway._

" _I keep seeing this boy," Leia didn't hesitate but some part of her should have. "He had sky blue eyes and sandy blonde hair and yet, he seemed really familiar."_

 _Bail felt his stomach drop. She was speaking of her brother. The brother she had no idea she had. "It was just a dream, darling." He told her outright. "Think nothing of it."_

 _Leia didn't like the dismissive tone her father was using but thinking back on it, she understood why. He had known about Luke all that time and had never told her in fear that it would get back to the Emperor and Darth Vader, leading to a galaxy-wide manhunt for two teenagers who were the offspring of a supposedly dead Jedi hero._

Sitting on her bed in her quarters at the D'Qar Resistance Base, Leia couldn't help but wonder what her mother would have done if she were in her shoes. She had seen hologram after hologram that R2 had saved over the years of Padmé, Anakin and anyone they had associated with during the Clone Wars. She was reliving what her mother would have gone through if she had of lived.

Padmé had lost her husband to the Dark Side and over fifty years later, her own daughter would lose her son to the same darkness that had destroyed her birth father's soul.

The pain had been unimaginable. Leia hadn't blamed Luke and neither had Han. They had known the risks of having a child born into the Skywalker bloodline even if the child was a Solo. Han had said at the time that it didn't matter whether the child bore the last name of Solo or Skywalker and that it, whether it be a boy or a girl would be loved. How wrong they had been.

Luke had blamed himself for Ben's fall to the Dark Side and had gone into exile.

Leia remembered the day only too well. Their father's Force spirit, along with that of Obi-Wan's had appeared and had pleaded with Luke not to go into exile. Anakin had gone one step further and had mentioned Padmé and what she would have thought of Luke's decision to drop everything and flee.

Luke had stopped and so had Leia, their minds had reeled with wonder of what their mother would have said.

Anakin had said that Padmé would have been appalled by Luke's decision and that she would have used her skills of diplomacy to talk him out of it.

Leia had been amazed. She had heard so many stories of the woman who had stolen the Chosen One's heart and yet, they had never met.

Tears ran down Leia's face as she remembered her father's words. When she was younger she never would have cried like this. Never. But after losing her son as well as her husband, Leia felt like she didn't deserve to be a mother or a wife. She and Han had separated years earlier after Ben's fall and had never been able to set foot on the same turf.

Suddenly, Leia's vision blurred and she felt like was going to pass out, only she didn't.

Images moved and blurred around her. It hit her. She was experiencing a Force Vision. She noticed that the images showed the same woman and at times a man that looked a lot like Anakin. It _was_ Anakin.

Leia couldn't help but gasp as she realised what she was seeing. She was viewing her mother's life during the Clone Wars. Leia could see the hardships Padmé had endured very clearly. Anakin was constantly away at war and Padmé would always worry about him.

" _Leia."_ A voice said.

Leia turned and saw a white light blink and take the form of a young woman. She looked older then Rey and even the form Anakin had taken. She was beautiful. She had flowing hazelnut coloured hair and warm brown eyes. She was dressed in a flowing blue dress.

"Who are you?" Leia asked, taking a few steps forward.

The woman smiled. "Your mother."

Leia blinked. "Mother? As in Padmé Amidala?"

The woman nodded.

Leia was rendered speechless. Was this woman really her biological mother? "How are you here?" Leia managed finally.

"Your father sent me. I might not have been Force Sensitive in my lifetime but I knew you and Luke were."

"Why did Father send you?"

Padmé looked at her sadly. "He felt Han's death at Ben's hand. He knew you wouldn't want to talk to him or Obi-Wan so he sent me."

Leia had learned a great deal from Luke about how the Force worked. He had even explained the concept of Force ghosts. Luke had explained that after the Battle of Endor, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda had appeared to him as spirits from the netherworld of the Force as their way of congratulating them on taking down the Empire. She had even asked why she hadn't been able to see them in which Luke had shrugged, saying he didn't know why. Over the years though, Anakin had appeared to her whether she liked it or not. Somehow, and for some reason, she had found herself enjoying having her father's presence around her, despite past encounters.

"Why?" Leia found herself asking.

Padmé smiled kindly as she took a step forward. "Because he thought you might need some advice from a mother."

"But you never got to see Luke and I grow up."

"True," Padmé nodded. "Just because I wasn't there physically doesn't mean I wasn't there at all. I was there. In spirit."

Leia thought for a moment. She thought back to the dreams she had had growing up. "I use to have dreams growing up." She looked to her mother who was watching her carefully. "I use to have flashes of events long gone. In some of them, I use to see you and Father. Obi-Wan. Yoda. A teenage Togruta. Jedi who are now long dead. Was it you that sent them?"

Padmé offered her daughter a sheepish look. "Yes," she whispered. "It was me. Your father thought it would be best if you saw glimpses of me in my lifetime."

"So," Leia licked her lips. "That faint memory I have of you, was sent by you as well?"

"No," Padmé shook her head. "From recollection, you weren't even looking at me when you were born. How you have managed to have a faint memory of me I have no idea. I know I interacted with Luke when he was born but how he has no memory of me I have no clue."

"Maybe, the Force made me have a memory of you through the womb."

Padmé pondered on this. "I never thought of that. Perhaps."

"I remember you as being beautiful, kind but sad," Leia found herself saying, repeating what she had told Luke years ago on Endor.

Padmé managed a wean smile. "I wanted you know that I love you Leia. I always have. You and your brother."

Leia found herself crying.

"I am truly sorry that I didn't live to see you both grow up. I would have loved to have seen you both grow into what you are today."

Leia looked away. "I don't deserve your praise, Mother."

"Why?" Padmé asked gently.

Leia raised her head, a fresh flow of tears flowed down her face. "My son. My son turned to the Dark Side just like Father did. I sent him to Luke in hope that he would break his obsession with Vader but it only made it worse. I sent Han to bargain with him, to bring him home but…" Leia was unable to finish her sentence as the words caught in her throat.

Padmé gave her daughter a sympathetic look before stepping over and hugging her.

Leia didn't react when she felt her mother's arms fold around her. She felt solid, like she was really there. It surprised the former princess a little that her mother was actually taller then her. She had a quick flashback to when she and Luke had met all those years ago on the first Death Star and how she had commented he was a little short to be a Stormtrooper.

"Your father loved you as well, Leia." Padmé murmured in Leia's ear.

Leia pulled back in surprise to look at her mother. "He never loved me. Or Luke."

Padmé shook her head. "You'll find he did. He still does. I still remember the day I told him I was pregnant. Of course, at the time, we only thought we were expecting one child not two. It came as a surprise when I went into labour and the medical droid said I was carrying twins."

"What happened?" Leia asked. "How did Father react to the news of your pregnancy?"

"He was shocked but overjoyed all the same. He was frustrated that we were unable to announce it to anyone. He wanted to confess to the Jedi Council. I couldn't allow him to do so. He wanted to confess to breaking the thousand year rule that forbad attachment. He would often rant to me as to how trapped he felt in having to hide our marriage. I loved him more then anything in the galaxy. I remember telling him that you and your brother would change our lives."

"How?"

"Well, we wouldn't have been watching from the netherworld and we wouldn't be proud of you and Luke. You took after me while Luke took after Anakin in becoming a Jedi."

"That doesn't prove anything." Leia denied. "You forget that Bail, my adoptive father serviced with you in the Galactic Senate."

"I have never forgotten that," Padmé said. "Bail was a good friend and I was horrified when I discovered what Tarkin did to Alderaan."

Leia gritted her teeth. "Tarkin did it to spite me but he also did it on Father's – Vader's - orders."

Padmé nodded in agreement. "I know. Your father had it out for Tarkin during the Clone Wars."

"Tarkin served during the Clone Wars?" This was a fact Leia clearly hadn't been known about.

"Yes. He was a member of the Republic Navy. He was a captain then he was promoted to an admiral. He and your father had it out for each other. He nearly succeed in having your father's Padawan executed."

"Father had a Padawan?" Leia asked.

"Yes, but that is a story for another day." Padmé told her with a final nod.

Leia knew immediately that the subject was closed for a rainy day.

"What happened to Ben was of his own making," Padmé said firmly. "I learned that when I was alive with your father. Leia, I know it hurts. I lost your father in the most unimaginable way and it happened under my unsuspecting nose. I didn't want to believe it but I had to face reality and it cost me my life."

"Father's anger." Leia concluded. She had seen the incident on Mustafar where Anakin had strangled Padmé out of anger having been too far influenced by the Dark Side to listen to reason from R2.

"For years after I died, I blamed myself for what happened to me but then, I realised that Anakin was too far influenced by Palpatine and the Dark Side to have been influenced back to the light. I still remember my final words to Obi-Wan like I said them yesterday. I told him there was still good in Anakin and I believed it. I was surprised when Luke realised it too and confronted him about it before the Battle of Endor."

To re-hear her brother's words from her mother made Leia realise that her and Han's belief that there was still good in their son made her realise that Anakin's sacrifice on the second Death Star was all the proof she needed that redemption was possible. "Luke said Obi-Wan didn't believe that Father could be redeemed and that the good-hearted soul that had once been his apprentice had died on the banks of Mustafar."

"Obi-Wan was devastated by Anakin's turn. He, much like myself, had hoped it was all one big misunderstanding but we were terribly wrong. After my death, I watched Obi-Wan from the netherworld and I saw how he use to tear himself apart over that fateful day on Mustafar. He blamed himself, believing that the man he had particularly raised was gone. A machine now, more then a man who was twisted and evil."

Luke had told Leia what Obi-Wan had told him about Vader being more a machine then he was a man. It had been clear even then that Obi-Wan still lived with the guilt of what had happened to Anakin even though he was long dead.

"Mother?" Leia said. Padmé gave her an expectant look. "Do _you_ think there is any chance of Ben being returned to the light?"

Padmé pondered on this for a moment. "Yes," she said finally. "If Luke could redeem your father then it is certainly possible. I know I had too much faith in your father's redemption but seeing as Ben is my grandson, I think it is possible. Han was only one attempt. His sacrifice was not in vain Leia. I hope you realise that."

Leia nodded. "What about Luke?"

"He should not have blamed himself for what happened to his nephew. I know our family is prone to tragedy but you have a chance to fix that. As does Rey."

Leia straightened at the mention of the young girl she suspected to be her long-lost niece. "Rey?"

"I know she is Luke's daughter, Leia as does your father."

"I sensed she was Luke's the moment I laid eyes on her."

"And yet, you did not recognise her name?" Padmé asked curiously.

"There are thousands of young girls with the same name. The moment I saw her, I could see you in her appearance. Your eyes. Your hair. Your determination. Your poise."

Padmé grinned. She was flattered at her daughter's words. "You are very kind, Leia. You have certainly grown into a queen."

"I wish. I might have been raised a princess of Alderaan but I somehow knew I would never be its queen."

"You have always been a leader. As a princess. A senator. A Resistance leader. You have done your father and I proud."

Padmé's voice started echo and her form started to flicker.

Leia knew immediately that her time with her mother was coming to an end.

"Mother, please don't leave!" Leia begged. "I don't know what to do when Rey returns with Luke."

"You will know soon enough." Padmé's voice echoed deeply before she disappeared completely.

The world around Leia flickered before she found herself back in her quarters. Her eyes focused and soon they found the holo-photo that sat on her bedside table of herself, Han, Luke and a very young Ben. In it, they were happy. A family.

Remembering her mother's words and how she had believed that Anakin's redemption had been possible, Leia felt a glimmer of hope. She knew now that Han hadn't died in vain and that he would have done anything for their son. It was just unfortunate that Ben had fallen down the same path as his grandfather had so many years earlier.

Padmé had been right about everything.

"Perhaps," Leia said to herself as she picked up the image and stared at it. "There is good in Ben. There has to be."

" _Mistress Leia?"_

Leia turned to see C-3PO and Poe standing in the doorway of the doorway.

"Yes?"

"General, Finn has awakened and wishes to speak you, ma'am." Poe said a smile on his face.

Leia breathed a sigh of relief. That was the second lot of good news she had received all day.

"I shall be right there."

Poe said nothing. Instead, he nodded, patted 3PO on the shoulder and left.

3PO left without a word.

Leia watched the pair retreat before turning back to the photo in her hand. She sighed and placed it back on the side-table before turning and leaving the room to see to the recovering former Stormtrooper.

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 _Please Review!_


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